Resembling ourselves is critical

Oh, those pesky social studies standards.

Nebraska’s once vaunted but now diminished rivalry with Oklahoma has come to a shuddering halt. What was born on the gridiron years ago has now expired, as those charged with educating children in the Sooner State have proposed an educational standard with no pedagogical foundation nor semblance of the truth.

If adopted, the state’s high school students, in their study of the presidential election results from 2020, would be required to “identify discrepancies” in the process. Except there weren’t any. 

Sure, some insisted the integrity of the election of Joe Biden was tainted. But no tangible, verifiable evidence was found nor exists today to prove that the election had “discrepancies.” Nor does wishing, hoping, believing or offering debunked conjecture to the contrary make it so. Or worse, make it part of the public school curriculum.

Nebraska wins

If the standard is accepted, Oklahoma students will be learning a lie. Game over. Huskers win.

That’s because to my knowledge, Nebraska’s social study standards entertain no such nonsense. Nevertheless, as we’ve seen before on other fronts, culture war creep is a thing, a reality that can show up anywhere, including Nebraska’s classrooms. See book banning for details.

The standard’s news was among a spate of happenings from the silly to the serious during the last week connected to social studies, history, economics, whatever social science is to your liking. Oklahoma’s potential capitulation, which raises conspiracy theories to the level of actual American history, was only part of the story.

A bill introduced in Congress would codify President Trump’s notion that the Gulf of Mexico hitherto be known as the Gulf of America. His executive order did as much early in his second term, but EOs do not carry the weight or the permanence of an actual law. As you know, laws are what Congress passes, although you’d be hard pressed to find an example of that with the current confab now meeting in the Capitol.

‘Gulf of America’

Enter H.R. 276, which would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico permanently and compel all federal agencies to update their maps and documents to reflect such an alteration. I imagine that would also require a rewrite of state social studies or geography standards. The bill’s sponsor is U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

Oy, vey! Where to begin? Let’s start (and stop) with this: Why? Yeah, I can’t think of anything either. 

Nebraska U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., thought the entire episode was rather childish: “It just seems juvenile. We’re the United States of America. We’re not Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany or Napoleon’s France. … We’re better than this. It just sounds like a sophomore thing to do.” Bacon’s nay in the name-change vote was a welcome development despite the measure passing the House. Perhaps Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Flood and Adrian Smith have an answer to why.

A better idea would have been to let the silliness languish, never to be heard from again. The House — and the rest of us — face more pressing matters, not the least of which is the looming crisis over whether or not we are a democratic republic that honors the principle of due process. Enshrined in two Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, due process is the bedrock on which a nation of laws is built.

Due process

Here’s a quick review of those details, all of which should be the social studies standard for anyone who calls America home: The Fifth Amendment says no one shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, uses the same eleven words, called the Due Process Clause, to describe a legal obligation of the states. Due process gives us legal procedures (processes), so the government cannot infringe on our individual rights.

More to the point in the current discussion is this: Due process applies to anyone — citizen or not — being adjudicated in the U.S., too, its language using “person” rather than citizen. 

Nevertheless, both the president and his Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, sidestepped the due process question recently. That is, do they believe in it? Trump told NBC’s Kristin Welker he “didn’t know” because he isn’t an attorney. Noem simply would not answer the question during a congressional hearing. 

The nation’s history, like high school social studies, is replete with stories that essentially reveal who we are as a country, what we value — principles such as due process. They are the nation’s standards.

But when they get their corners knocked off, when we fail to live up to them, we no longer resemble ourselves. That’s a standard too far.